Defuniak springs police say the fire at this house on Morris drive Tuesday afternoon was the result of illegal drug activity. They say thirty-five year-old Timothy Herring was cooking methamphetamine in the home when the fire started And herring apparently paid the price.

"When the first responders first got there, the resident was outside. Mr. Herring was outside and he had suffered with some bad burns to the legs" said Lieutenant Tilman Mears.

Paramedics life-flighted Herring to Sacred Heart Hospital Pensacola. Doctors there transferred him to the burn unit at Shands Hosptial in Gainesville. Inside the house, investigators say they found everything they needed to begin building a case against Herring.

"We got what we feel like is good evidence that there's some criminal activity going on and that's the reason for the fire but at this point we're still investigating and we got to get all of our evidence put together and produce it to the state attorney" said Mears.

Manufacturing meth is not only a danger to the person doing the cooking, but anyone who might be in the vicinity. The process is volatile and meth labs can explode. Mears says people should be aware of what's going on in their neighborhoods.

"Abandoned houses or houses that's probably not livable or anything like that, that people are going in and out and it's suspicious activity to normal people. Just call us it's worth going around and checking it" said Mears. Herring is still being treated at Shands Hosptial.Authorities will most likely charge him after he's released from the hospital.

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